The present invention relates generally to data processing in connection with animal handling. More particularly the invention relates to a system according to the preamble of claim 1 and a corresponding method. The invention also relates to a computer program and a processor-readable medium.
The so-called body condition score (BCS) of a milking animal provides a reasonably accurate measure of the animal's energy reserves by reflecting the amount of body fat, and how this fat is distributed on the rear body of the animal. The BCS targets at key stages of lactation, and has been developed for dairy production systems. The BCS affects dry matter intake, milk production, reproduction, cow health and welfare. Especially, the BCS is an important factor in connection with dry-off. However, it is also important to keep track of the BCS during peak lactation and the period thereafter in order to feed the animal adequately. In addition, the BCS in early lactation may affect the sex of future calves and the productive and reproductive capacity of heifers yet to be born. Irrespective of the farming system or cow genetics, it has been found that milk production is optimized when mature cows calve between BCS 5.0 and 6.0. The production benefits decline with increasing BCS and the risk of metabolic health disorders at calving is greater, such that increasing BCS beyond 5.0 in mature cows and 5.5 in first and second calvers cannot be justified. Recommended calving BCS targets are a compromise between wanting cows with sufficient energy reserves for milk production, while not being so fat as to compromise cow health.
WO 2010/063527 discloses an arrangement for determining a BCS of an animal, which arrangement contains a three-dimensional (3D) camera system directed towards the animal and provided for recording at least one 3D image of the animal. An image processing device forms a 3D surface representation of a portion of the animal from the 3D image. The surface is statistically analysed for determining the BCS of the animal based on the statistically analysed surface of the 3D surface representation.